Fresh Paint
the trend of negative growth will continue until sometime in 2010 and
then gradually improve. Some countries and regions will suffer greater
decline than others and some will
rebound earlier and faster than others. The specialty chemicals market
in 2010 is estimated to reach about
the same size as in 2008 and then
gradually climb during the next
three years to reach $530 billion in
2013.
TIKKURILA’S ALCRO-BECKERS
TO DISPLAY THE SWAN LABEL
Alcro-Beckers AB is the first company to receive the Nordic Ecolabel
known as “the Swan” for its exterior
NANOMARKETS REPORTS ON CONDUCTIVE COATINGS MARKET
A new report from NanoMarkets, an industry analyst firm, predicts that
new opportunities are emerging in the conductive coatings market as the
result of new applications and novel materials. Once a highly mature sector
centered on coating or plating metals for equally slow-growing applications,
the conductive coatings market will see a growth spurt brought on by
demanding new requirements for electrodes, EMI/RFI shielding, and anti-static protection from next-generation electronics and energy devices. At the
same time, new materials ranging from carbon nanotubes to conductive
polymers to advanced composites, will provide significant competition to traditional metal coatings on cost, environmental and performance grounds.
NanoMarkets’ projections place the conductive coatings markets at $12.2
billion in 2014 going on to reach $15.9 billion in 2016 for the critical applications covered in electronics discussed in the report.
Electrode coatings with enhanced conductivity will prove a key enabling
technology in emerging areas such as large area sensors, fuel cells and especially photovoltaics (PV). NanoMarkets believes that advanced materials—
such as mixtures of silver and transparent conducting oxides—could provide
a way forward to higher efficiencies in solar panels. Conductive coatings sold
into the photovoltaics sector will reach $1.6 billion in revenues by 2014.
Because nanomaterials are at an early stage they offer the best prospects
for a leap forward in conductive coating technology. Carbon nanotube coatings are already being used to beef up performance in fuel cells, lighting and
displays and NanoMarkets also sees a significant market developing for
nanosilver pastes for sensors, certain kinds of capacitors and EMI/RFI
shielding. While nanomaterials used in the conductive coatings sector today
are negligible, by 2014, nanomaterials-based conductive coatings are expected to reach $415 million in revenues.
According to NanoMarkets, by 2014, more than $450 million in conductive
coatings will be sold for antistatic protection and EMI/RFI shielding applications. Growth in this market will be spurred by growth of wireless communications with its inherent need for shielding and higher levels of chip
integration which will require more protection from static electricity.
NanoMarkets also expects new uses to emerge in this sector such as RF
shielding used to prevent access to data stored on RFID chips. It also anticipates that there will be a growing shift from metallic coatings towards the
use of conductive polymers for EMI/RFI shielding on cost and environmental grounds. Further details about the report are available at
www.nanomarkets.net.
paints. Alcro-Beckers AB is part of
the Finnish Tikkurila that is responsible for Kemira’s paints and coatings business.
“Exterior paints form a product
area in which environmentally sound
choices really make a difference,” said
Ragnar Unge, managing director,
Ecolabelling Sweden AB. “The Nordic
Ecolabel helps both professionals and
consumers to choose correctly.”
“Being the first to be granted the
Nordic Ecolabel for exterior paints is
proof that our environmental focus is
producing concrete results. Our target
is to continuously develop high-quality paints with a minimal environmental impact,” said Niklas Frisk, managing director, Alcro-Beckers AB.
The company has decided to limit
99% of its paint selection exclusively
to waterborne products by the end of
2010. Alcro-Beckers sells decorative
paints to consumers and professional
painters in Scandinavia and is the
leader in Sweden with a 40% share of
the market. The Nordic Ecolabel is
the official environmental label of
the Nordic countries. It sets strict
requirements on the entire life-cycle
of products, from raw materials to
production and use, and finally to
disposal of waste. For example, paint
must not contain solvents or any
chemical substances that disturb
hormone systems. Heavy metals are
also forbidden.
GLOBAL PAINT AND COATINGS
VALUED AT $87 BILLION
According to the consulting firm
Kusumgar, Nerlfi & Growney, global
coating consumption in 2009 is projected to total 60 billion pounds (as
supplied) worth $87 billion. Coating
volume will be down approximately
two percent from 2008; value will be
off even more owing to declining
prices. Dollar exchange rate fluctuations will also be a factor in the final
coating dollar value.
